Dr. Ernest K. Manders

Dr. Ernest K. Manders is one of the leading scientific and surgical minds in modern plastic surgery.  Dr. Manders pioneered a number of designs for soft tissue expanders, including the croissant expander design for closing a circular defect with the smallest scar, soft tissue expanders for treating male pattern baldness and hair loss, and the differential breast expander.

The differential breast expander design revolutionized breast reconstruction with expanders, creating an expansion following mastectomy that better mimicked the shape of the breast.  This innovation is still the basis of soft tissue expander designs used today.

His innovations around the sterilization and preservation of tissues are the basis of Promethean LifeSciences.  Products based on Dr. Manders’ inventions have been used on millions of patients around the world.

Dr. Manders received his undergraduate education at Harvard College and then attended Harvard Medical School.  After a surgical internship at the University of Michigan, he worked for two years as a Research Associate in the Laboratory of Viral Oncology at the National Institutes of Health.  He then returned to the University of Michigan where he completed his training in general surgery and plastic surgery.  He joined the faculty at Penn State University in 1981, rising to the rank of Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics.  Since 1997 he has served as Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Manders enjoys treating patients with a broad range of problems while teaching in his academic practice in plastic surgery.  He has authored over 300 articles, abstracts, chapters, manuals, videos, and patents.  He takes great pride in those whom he has helped train as residents in plastic surgery, half of whom have entered academic surgery, and half of whom are successful in private practice.